Optimising the Geometry of a Breakwater Connected to Large Floating Structures: Increasing the Feasiblity of Floating Cities

The development of floating islands is an attractive option to provide living/working spaces at sea, as it would be a more economical solution for many locations at sea where the water depth is high. However, large second-order wave forces cause the floating island mooring system to become expensive as the wave height increases. So, in many...

Modelling the effects of excavation pits on fringing reefs

Many small island developing states (SIDS) are among the most vulnerable to climate change (e.g. sea level rise) and seasonal to inter-annual climate variability, and subsequently experience flooding due to swell waves and wind waves, coastal erosion and salinisation of freshwater lenses. To counteract this, reef flat mining for sand and...

The influence of incident waves on runup: A comparison between a phase-averaged and a phase-resolving XBeach model

Wave runup is generated by energy which remains after wave breaking and travels farther to the coast in the form of a bore. It can be seen as a thin wedge of water running up the beach face (Brocchini and Baldock, 2008). Under storm conditions runup is responsible for beach and dune erosion and accurate runup predictions are therefore required ...

A method to calculate the probability of dike failure due to wave overtopping, including the infragravity waves and morphological changes

In this thesis, a method was developed, with which the infragravity waves and morphological changes of a sandy foreshore are included in the calculation of the probability of dike failure due to wave overtopping. Constructing a natural foreshore in front of the dike can be an attractive and innovative method to decrease the failure probability....

Modeling the interaction between wave hydrodynamics and flexible aquatic vegetation

Aquatic vegetation, found in coastal waters and inter tidal areas, has important features for hydraulic engineering solutions, including sedimentation and stabilization of the bed. The increasing demand to predict wave hydrodynamics with aquatic vegetation asks for insight in the mechanisms and improved model methods. Striving to a more...

Sediment transport in a fringing reef environment: Analysis using laboratory experiments and numerical modelling

Coral reefs are highly valuable structures in many respects and it is increasingly important to understand hydrodynamics and morphodynamics around reefs to be able to better protect them and their hinterland. Flume experiments were performed on a scaled fringing reef in the laboratory facilities of Deltares in Delft. The objective of this thesis...

Study on Sedimentation and Effects of Mitigating Measures at Port of Mar del Plata, Argentina

Problem definition The city Mar del Plata has one of Argentina's largest ports and biggest seaside beach resort. After the construction of the port, a steadily growing sandbank appeared in the port entrance and considerable erosion occurred on the northern beaches. To warrant the accessibility of the port, frequent maintenance dredging is needed...

Morphological impact of a deep water reef

For local protection of coastal stretches where buildings are situated in or form part of the coastal defense line the deep water reef concept has been developed. Two reef concepts were designed; a shore-parallel breakwater (of 3 km length) and a segmented breakwater (three blinds of 1 km length), both located in 10 m water depth at 1.5 km off...